I Love You More Than Him...I Think
by Our Luigi of the Pipes
Summary: Kari's 18th birthday goes sour when Davis and TK decide to openly compete for her love. Things go worse when a new evil shows up in the lab of Professor Takenouchi. Or is this evil really new...?
1. Prologue- From the Lab of Professor Take...

Disclaimer: Sorry folks, I DO NOT own Digimon, or just about any character mentioned in this Digimon fanfic. A pity though. 

Not all Digimon in this fanfic were actually exhibited on the TV show, movie, card game, or whatever, and some are creations of my own. If you wanna be vicious, blood-sucking, idea snatchers, ask me first in the review section for this fanfic, capiece?

  
  


Author Notes: 

This is only my second submitted fan fiction, and the first got deleted, so bear with me people.

What's with everybody picking on Davis? He was kinda dumb and all at the beginning of the series, but he learned a lot and shaped up his act. I sympathize with ya, Daisuke.

Just 'cause I sympathize with Davis doesn't mean this is a Daikari fanfic though. TK is just as good a character. You da man Takeru.

So without further ado, Tai of the Digiworld brings you-**I Love You More Than Him...I Think**. Please, save all reviews and applause for after you've finished reading, put all cash into the mail with express for my house, bring your own popcorn, avoid the satanic flame reviews, and have a good ol' time. Enjoy!

  
  
  
  
  
  


Prologue

  
  


Day 94

  
  


I, Jim Kido, have been testing with my digital partner, Sivimon, for ninety-four days now. At least, that was the number the last time me and Professor Takenouchi counted. And we have found ABSOLUTELY nothing out of the ordinary in him or Fabreimon, the good doctor's own digital partner. We are led to believe that there is something odd about them though because... because... well, I forgot why... and it doesn't really matter anyway.

  
  


Our research is looking hopeless. The institution threatened to stop paying the pizza guy for the times when we order extra large anchovy and ham pizzas for those long, sleepless nights. The absolute horror! Without that pizza, I wouldn't have the will to continue. Well, we should have just a few more days...

  
  


Day 95

  
  


Still nothing.

  
  


Day 96

  
  


Still nothing. But I can't research tomorrow. My kid brother Joe had to go and get married tomorrow. Lucky me, I -have- to go. He didn't even make me the best man. The nerve of that guy sometimes. And here I could really feel an important breakthrough coming tomorrow. Well, it's only one day...

  
  


Day 128

  
  


Did I say one day? My, it's amazing how one day can become a whole month when you accidently light yourself ablaze on the alter candles, bump your head on the bowl while extinguishing the fire with holy water, and get put in the hospital for thirty-two days to recover from a near fatal concussion. And to top my day off, we don't get free pizza anymore. The institution said they'd stop funding our lab next, the fiends. Well, better get to work.

  
  


Day 135

  
  


Sorry I haven't been writing tedious notes in this for the past week, but the professor and I have finally come upon a discovery that was worth ignoring the notes for. It's fascinating!

  
  


After analyzing each and every micro byte of our Digimon, we discovered that a few strands were not identical to the others. They seemed to have come from an entirely different Digimon altogether. And the most interesting part is that the variant strand is identical in both Sivimon and Fabreimon. We cannot assume anything beyond that point however, which is why we've been trying to contact Izzy Izumi or Ken Ichijouji for quite some time now. Neither have had enough time from their daily schedules to come and help us. So the professor and I must continue until we've finally discovered what this is all about...


	2. Davis to the Left, TK to the Right, and ...

Author's Notes (Again): Okay, sorry if there was confusion people, but my last part was supposed to be foreshadowing for the events to come. And it DOES fit into part of the summary, thank you very much. And I also must point out that none of this story was pre-planned. I'm typing it as I go along. So expect a two-day to week long pause before I can submit a new chapter please. Thank you.

  
  


Chapter 1:

Davis to the Left, TK to the Right, and I'm Stuck in the Middle With Tai...

  
  


Kari Kamiya stretched her toes, then wiggled them slowly. Her blanket felt warm and soft against the tips of her feet. She opened her eyes a bit, took in the dim light of her room, then rubbed them with the backs of her hands. Kari pushed herself up in a strained motion of her arms. She kicked off the covers of her bed and swung her feet briskly around to the right of her bedside. Miko screeched in pain.

"Oh!" Kari said, startled by the loud interruption, "I'm sorry!"

Miko licked her paw where Kari had accidently stepped on it, then ran out the door. Kari sighed, stood up, and ran after.

Kari slid to a stop in front of the kitchen. Normally her mom and dad would be sitting there, drinking a fresh cup of coffee and looking at the morning paper. But today it was someone totally different.

"Hey Kari," the brown haired man before her said, sipping at a cup of hot coffee.

"Tai!" Kari yelled happily, running up to hug her older brother. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I was gonna miss my little sister's eighteenth birthday just to sit in the dorm all day without a class or anything to go to, did you?" Tai asked, returning the hug. Kari giggled at his remark, then sat down in the chair next to him. "So where's Gatomon?"

"Now that you mention it..." Kari remembered that Gatomon hadn't been sleeping at the foot of her bed today, "I don't know."

"I see. Well, that's no need to worry, right? She's a grown up kitty, after all."

Kari looked at the twenty-one year old Tai Kamiya. He hadn't changed much since that time when MaloMyotismon had tried to conquer this and the Digiworld. Tai was a bit taller, and hair had been trimmed just a bit, but he still held that boyish courage in his dark brown eyes. He wore a blue band around his head that had since been a replacement for the goggles he had given to Davis Motomiya some seven years ago. Along with his headband, he had a blue denim coat on, which bore the initials of his college on the left side of his chest, and the insignia for the school on the right. The back of his coat had a bright orange sun blazoned into it, which was probably added by Agumon and himself when the coat was first received. That would really be the Crest of Courage. Tai also wore wrinkled blue jeans and ordinary brown shoes.

"So... how's school?" Tai asked, more interested in starting a topic than hearing a realistic answer. "Graduating in three months, right?"

"Yup. Then I go right into school again... but that's what I enjoy. That's why I want to be a teacher."

"Not something I'D look forward to doing..."

"Oh, don't be silly Tai. It's my life and I'll live it as I want to. But I should be asking YOU that question."

"I'm doing pretty well. They're practically begging me to be a soccer tutor. After seeing how successful I was with Davis, after all..."

"Ah ha, always the joker."

"Actually, they've been begging me to be some sort of international relations guy to the Digiworld, since I have the most experience... or something like that."

"A foreign administrator?"

"Well, I really don't have any idea what they're calling it. They just want me and Agumon to handle relations between the Digiworld and this world."

"Okay," Kari said, obviously not in full understanding. Tai never was the most depictive talker she knew.

There was a long pause before Tai stood. A very long pause. "I think I'll go find Mom and Dad now," he said, getting to his feet. "Be right back."

"Okay. I might as well look for Gatomon while you're gone."

Tai nodded and walked out of the room. Kari stood up and stretched her arms skyward. She stepped to the door, then turned abruptly when she realized she was still in her pink nightgown. She spun briskly on her heel and walked back to her room, coming out a few minutes later with her school uniform on. It was Saturday, but she had felt like wearing the pine green blouse and skirt anyway. She placed a magenta-colored clip in her strawberry-brunette hair, then slipped on her white gloves, with the fingers cut off. She pulled her white and blue scarf over her head, then tied the blue tassels together in a square knot, like she would with a neck tie.

After getting "suited up", as Kari's dad had once called it, Kari leaned her head out the window and yelled Gatomon's name into the street. No response came, but Kari caught sight of someone coming toward her house from the left side of the road. Davis Motomiya, who was carrying a ridiculously large teddy bear in his arms. The teddy bear itself was roughly twice Davis's size, with dark brown fur, two beady black eyes, a wrinkled nose, and rounded arms and legs to avoid the use of fingers and toes. Aside from the usual appearance, Kari also noticed that the bear was wearing a pair of blue-rimmed goggles, identical to Davis's in all aspects but size. She turned her head and saw another figure coming up the road from the right. TK Takaishi, who carried an identical teddy bear, but with a white bucket hat instead of blue goggles.

"Oh no," Kari muttered under breath. "Well, they ARE better than those Poi brothers from Hong Kong... they don't send me seventy e-mails daily..."

As Davis and TK neared the short lane up to the Kamiya home, their bears bumped into each other, causing both of Kari's suitors to go reeling backwards. They simultaneously shifted the bears and got a good look at each other, as if sizing each other up for a kill. Kari noted that they too were wearing their school uniforms, a pine green coat covering a button-down white shirt with matching pants and black shoes. TK still wore the same white bucket hat from seven years ago, and Davis still had Tai's blue-rimmed goggles set just above his forehead.

"Takeru," Davis said.

"Daisuke," TK responded.

"What do you think you're doing here TR?"

"Same thing you are. So what's it to ya?"

"Oh boys!" Kari yelled, hoping that the mild embarrassment of flirting with them would be overcome by the fulfillment of breaking up a probable fight. "Come on up!"

Davis and TK glared angrily at each other, then turned and faced Kari. They walked forward, with almost false grins on their faces, definitely angry at each other. When they reached the window, TK was the first to put his anger aside.

  
  


"Happy Birthday Kari," he said in a chipper tone. "Brought you a present."

"Thanks TK."

"I brought one too!" Davis added quickly.

"Thanks to you too Davis."

Davis, grinned, which made TK wince in mock pain, as well as making Kari sigh. "Why don't you two put those bears in the back and come in?" The duo nodded and ran for the backyard. Kari turned and sat down at the table, placed her elbows on the table and her curled fists on her cheeks, then sighed. 

"What's wrong Kari?" a soft, melodic voice asked behind her. Kari turned and came face to face with a green-eyed, dinosaur-like Digimon.

"Agumon!"

"Hi Kari! It's been so long since we saw each other."

Kari gave the yellow-skinned reptile a quick hug. "Yes it has." Agumon's skin felt leathery against her fingers, as it always had. "What do you do when Tai's not around?"

"Eh, look through Izzy's stuff, chat with Tentomon, sleep, not much in particular."

Kari remembered that Tai and Izzy had ended up sharing a dormitory in the college, mostly because the line of work they would be in was similar. Where Tai would be a digital world ambassador, Izzy would be a digital world chief researcher. "That's nice. I thought it'd be boring for you whenever Tai wasn't around."

"Nah, there's always something to do. But I never said happy birthday to you."

"Well thank you! It was nice to see you again."

"You too."

As if on cue, Tai stepped back in. "An ambassador Kari, that's what they want me to be."

"I just figured it out."

A sweat droplet fell off Tai's face. He looked over at Agumon. "I thought you were staying in the car."

"It smells like moldy french fries! How am I supposed to breathe in there?!"

Tai dashed over and covered Agumon's mouth with his hand. "Mom and Dad are in the next room," he whispered. "If they find out, they'll be coming to the dorm and cleaning it to the bone next!" Kari giggled. "So you think it's funny, eh?"

"Yes," Kari answered. "Sorry Tai..."

"It's alright. But you should have seen how Mrs. Izumi acted when she saw our room last week..."

"What was that Tai?" Mr. Kamiya asked while walking in with his arm around his wife affectionately. "Something about your dormitory?"

"Uh... I was just correcting Agumon on his description of me and Izzy's room. He was a bit off on the coloration, _right?_"

"Uh, yes! Of course."

Mr. Kamiya began to speak, but thought better of it. It wouldn't have made a difference, because his voice would've been drown out by the sound of TK and Davis racing to reach the kitchen first. The duo pushed through the doorframe, only to skid to a stop when they saw Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya.

"Oh!" TK said, startled. "Hello Mr. Kamiya, Mrs. Kamiya."

"Hi TK," Mrs. Kamiya said, "and Davis too. What brings you boys here today?"

"Well..." Davis stuttered, "we were... um... just going to say hi to Kari on her birthday, right TJ... err... TK?"

"Yup. That's exactly what you were doing. I mean we!"

"I see," Mrs. Kamiya said, which made Kari wonder if she and her father really knew what Davis and TK were doing. "Well, it was nice to see you two again.

"And how long do you plan on staying Tai?"

"Just a bit longer Mom. I need to be back before 2:30."

"Alright, and don't be such a stranger."

"Aww... Mom..."

"I mean it Tai. You should visit as often as you can."

And without waiting for a response, Mrs. Kamiya turned her husband around and walked out. Kari turned from her parents to the teddy bear-toting rivals. She didn't want Tai to hear what they most likely had to say, assuming that it would be the end of her. "I think I'll look for Gatomon now," she said. "You three should chat while you can." And with that Kari walked out the door, sighing in relief.


	3. Regardless of Tai...

Author's Notes (3): Okay people, you may notice that I said Michael's last name was Ando. I have no way of knowing this is true or not, so if you do know his last name, please tell me by putting it in a review. I'll edit and give credit to whoever tells me. Thank you.

  
  


Chapter 2:

Regardless of Tai...

  
  


Tai, TK, and Davis looked back and forth at each other. Or as close as they could get to that, since TK and Davis wouldn't actually look at each other. "So..." Tai said, "what ARE you guys doing here?"

"Um, wishing Kari a happy birthday, of course," Davis stammered. He knew it wouldn't fool Tai. His old soccer teacher knew him too well.

"Right," Tai sighed. "I guess I can leave it at that... So how have you boys been?"

"Pretty good!" Davis exclaimed, eager to portray his new life to his role-model. "I... almost beat Ken's team during the soccer championships this year, my grades are definitely good enough to get me through high-school and into that spiffy new noodle cart I've always wanted, and Veemon's been in the Digiworld for the past week, which means I get to sleep in."

TK rolled his eyes at the last comment, then started up his own story. "Well, we DID win the basketball tournaments, Matt and Sora are getting married, and Patamon's been cleaning my room for me. What a great friend."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Tai yelled, startling the two rivals. "Back that up a bit. Matt... and Sora... are getting..."

TK looked at Tai appalled. "I-I'm sorry Tai! I forgot that I wasn't supposed to have heard..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... how can I tell you this?"

  
  


~Flash back back back...~

  
  


"Hey Mom! I'm gonna head over to Kari's for a bit!" TK yelled back to his mom.

"Wait TK!" his mom said, walking into the room while rubbing her hands with a dish towel. "Did you talk to your brother yet?"

"Matt?! What's he doing here?"

"Well, he had some time off from classes, and after visiting... your father... he came here to talk to you..."

"That's great!"

"...and Sora."

"That's... interesting."

"Just make sure you talk to him before you go. He just went out to the hall. If you hurry, you might catch him before he gets out of the building."

"Okay! Thanks Mom!"

"Mm, hmm. Bye honey."

"Yeah, see ya."

TK walked out the door and began to run down the hall in an attempt to catch his older brother. He skidded to a stop before going out the outside door, because he heard Matt's voice. That meant that Matt must have been close to the door, and he didn't want to hit him. Before he could knock, or do something of the like, he heard Sora's voice following Matt's.

"So Sora," Matt said slowly, "I've thought this over for a long while, and..." Matt grunted, as if he was getting down onto his knees. He heard some shuffling around, then Matt continued. "Sora Takenouchi, will you... marry me?"

Sora gasped, appalled maybe, but stammered on. "A-are you SURE?"

"Sure I'm sure! Yes or no?"

Sora paused for a long time. TK knew what she was thinking. Worried about what Tai would say... Apparently, Matt knew too.

"Regardless of Tai, regardless of what he'll say when he gets that invitation, will you?"

"Matt-I... yes, I will."

Matt's shoes scuffed the floor. He probably stood up to hug Sora, or even more. Maybe he was kissing her. TK figured it was time to knock, and he did so.

"Hey Matt!"

"TK?" Matt asked, startled.

"You got it. Mom said you were around."

"Yeah. Come on out."

  
  


~Flash forward ward ward ward...~

  
  


"So you see Tai, they might not even know that I know," TK said.

"Yeah..." Tai responded.

"You mad buddy?" Davis asked shortly.

Tai took a deep breath and waited. "No," he said at last. "It's their decision, not mine. If that's how our destiny is going to run, then it's best that I NOT fight against it."

"That's so true," Davis said, looking at where Kari had left from, then glaring over at TK.

"Yes, it is," TK added, mimicking Davis's actions.

"There aren't gonna be any fights in here, are there guys?" Tai mused, easily picking up on the boys' anger. "Mom's not a fan for cleaning blood..."

"Huh?!" the two said simultaneously, forcing a chuckle from Tai despite his current situation.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Mimi Tachikawa yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. _Finally back in Odaiba_, she thought. She shook her light brown hair loosely and blinked her brown eyes. _And with Michael too_. It had taken a lot of persuading, but Mimi had finally convinced her boyfriend, Michael Ando, that a career in cooking would best be suited for the cook's home country. He wasn't ecstatic about leaving America, but he had. Michael was definitely a keeper.

Palmon yawned and covered her mouth with a large, pale green hand. "Tired?" Mimi asked.

"Well," Palmon yawned, "you were yawning too."

"So I was."

"Are Michael and Betamon still back there? I haven't heard any grumbling from him for a while."

"They'd better be," Mimi said brusquely. "It's not like he could just go home NOW..."

"That's true."

As if on cue, Michael walked off the subway they had taken to Odaiba from the airport, cradling a sleeping Betamon and narrowly clipping his head against the doorframe. "Geez Mimi," he mumbled between long yawns, "is ANYTHING here set to a more normal height?"

"Oh calm down Michael. You'll get used to it."

"Yes, I hope. I guess it's not all bad," Michael said, turning towards the sun. "Your sunsets sure are pretty."

"Um, Michael? That's... a sunrise."

"You gotta be kidding me..."

"Different time zones. We ARE on the opposite side of the earth..."

"Yeah," Palmon muttered, not wanting to be left from a conversation. "Make sure you change your watches and everything."

"That's right Palmon!" Mimi exclaimed, reaching down to her wrist watch. "Thanks for reminding me!"

"Ah, no problem."

"So... where are we gonna live Meems?" Michael asked, with a slight bit of sarcasm.

"I'm sure we could move in with Sora. Or Yolei. Or even Kari, if we need to."

"Or, we can get an apartment and get into a college as soon as possible."

"One way or the other. Let's just hope we get this done, get a nice home, get married, have kids, so on and so on."

"Ugh, Mimi. I thought we weren't gonna discuss that far in our relationship yet..."

"No. I guess we can wait... but not much longer."

"Right..." Michael sighed.

  
  


* * *

  
  


"Professor!" Jim yelled, stepping into the study hall where he and Professor Takenouchi were running experiments on their digital partners. "Professor!"

Jim looked around the small room; a few microscopes in one corner, a couple of cobwebs scattered about, and a few long desks that contained such utensils as hand-held lenses and data splicers. No sign of the professor, nor were Sivimon and Fabreimon around the area. Sivimon... Jim's thoughts turned toward his digital partner. Joe's friend, Izzy, had told him about Sivimon's digivolution pattern. Right now, Sivimon would be an In-Training level. If Jim had a digivice or if Sivimon had attained a lot of experience through battles, then Sivimon would "digivolve" to Shakomon, and again to Octomon. Since Jim didn't have the treasured device and preferred to study Sivimon, he probably wouldn't be leveling up. Jim liked it that way. The smaller they are, the less they eat.

A tinny voice cut through Jim's pondering. "Jim?" it called out meekly.

"Is that you Sivimon?"

The small purple, octopus-like creature came out from behind a desk. On the lower side of the creature were four thin tentacles, two to each side, and two thick tentacles between those four. His bright black eyes blinked a few times, adjusting to the light.

"Where's Professor Takenouchi, Siv?"

"I was afraid you'd ask that..."

"Why?"

"Well... let me explain this slowly..."

  
  


~Flash back back back...~

  
  


Professor Takenouchi scampered back and forth through the lab, picking up small disks and putting them under a microscope, or perhaps poking Fabreimon lightly with a needle, or even just prodding her curiously with his finger. Sivimon watched intently from the floor.

"Yes, there's definitely something in that data-formed body of yours," the professor mumbled. Fabreimon twitched in frustration, white body quivering. She wanted to know what the thing that the professor was talking about was even more than Takenouchi himself.

"Did you analyze those data bits?" Fabreimon asked, her long white nose bouncing up and down. 

"I sure did."

"Are they virus, vaccine, or data?"

"Virus, but you're a vaccine digimon, aren't you?"

Fabreimon fluttered her wings. They resembled a penguin's wings, since they wouldn't grow feathers until the next stage. "That's right."

"Interesting. There must be something a..."

What the professor said next was drowned out. A big black bubble swallowed him up. Sivimon turned, shocked, at Fabreimon. The hummingbird-like digimon was blowing another black bubble to encase the mollusk-digimon in. Sivimon squirmed out of the way, narrowly dodging the speeding bubble. He looked back at Fabreimon, who had taken flight and was approaching like a helicopter, bubble poised on her beak. Sivimon caught a flash of red in the bird's eyes, but that was the last thing he saw as he crashed head-first into the back of a desk drawer. When he looked back, he noticed that he was inside the drawer, and quickly pulled it shut, with a gap for oxygen to come in. Fabreimon tried to get in, but eventually gave up and fluttered away to do who knows what.

  
  


~Flash forward ward ward ward...~

  
  


"See Jim?" Sivimon asked.

"Any idea what made Fabrei act like that?" Jim asked back.

"No. But it should be obvious that that strange data had something to do with it."

"Yeah. But you have it on you too, which means... uh oh!"

Jim jumped away from Sivimon, but he was too late. The little squid was already firing the aforementioned black bubbles at him. Jim jumped backwards again, but accidently slammed his head against the door frame. The last thing he saw was Sivimon's now red eyes looking down at him...


End file.
